Construction delays push back the Allegria’s opening

Long Beach has waited a long time for a first-class, luxury hotel. And those waiting for the posh Allegria Hotel and Spa to fill that void will have to wait a little longer.

Expected to open in June, the Allegria has experienced construction delays, and was still shrouded with scaffolding in late July.

It has taken several months to put the finishing touches on the hotel, now scheduled to have about a third of its rooms and all of its catering facilities open before the end of the summer, according to Kate Barr Cornish, a spokeswoman for Woodmere-based Alrose Group. She said the official opening would be in the fall.

Meanwhile, people who booked affairs at the Allegria have either pushed back their dates, moved their parties to another venue or gotten refunds from the hotel. Despite the delays, Cornish said occupancy numbers and catering sales for the hotel are strong.

John Cameron, a Long Beach native and chairman of the Long Island Regional Planning Council, isn’t surprised about the luxury hotel’s popularity. He said the area has gone through a renaissance in the last decade, with high-end condos and trendy retailers adding to its new-found panache.

Alrose chief Allen Rosenberg is counting on the continuing gentrification of Long Beach, where new restaurants and shops are transforming much of the city. Rosenberg told LIBN the Allegria won’t have much competition because the South Shore of Long Island is “underserved in the hospitality industry.”

According to Mark Lahood, the hotel’s general manager, the Allegria is “a unique product” that will be recognized as a five-star destination. He said the accommodations at the Allegria are on a par with world-class hotels. So are its prices. Rooms at the Allegria start at $449 a night in the summer and $179 a night in the off season.

Full page ads in Hamptons Magazine have touted a stay at the Long Beach hotel as a closer alternative to an East End vacation.

Lahood said the Allegria is more convenient for people who live or work in New York City. The hotel is a four-block walk to the Long Island Rail Road station and a 50-minute ride into Manhattan.

Other features of the hotel include a 10,000-square-foot rooftop spa, boardwalk-level restaurant and lounge with glass-enclosed wine room and a fitness center. Guests can golf at the nearby Inwood Country Club where the hotel has a corporate membership.

The Allegria is also aiming for the lucrative catering market and Lahood said recently that its 3,000-square-foot ballroom has already been booked for several future events.

Despite its newness, the luxury hotel is actually a redevelopment. Alrose spent $22 million to buy the vacant and crumbling King David retirement home about three years ago as the site for the Allegria. The developer employed about 180 construction workers to completely gut and rebuild the nine-story facility into the latest boardwalk attraction.

A few blocks west, Garden City-based Engel Burman Group has just completed a luxury condominium called the Aqua on the boardwalk, which certainly adds more class to the neighborhood. The eight-story Aqua features ocean views from every unit, direct boardwalk access, covered parking spaces, indoor pool, outdoor dipping pool, fitness room, oceanfront clubroom and concierge.

Aqua condos start at $1.3 million. The six penthouse units have rooftop terraces complete with spa and outdoor kitchen. One of the units sold for more than $2.8 million, the most expensive ever in Long Beach, according to developer Jan Burman.

Cameron thinks the Allegria, even with its $400-plus per room, will do very well in the summer, but he said the off season would present a challenge.

“That’s always been the case here in Long Beach,” Cameron said.

But hotels across the board are struggling, and the Allegria, which will employ 176 people, will be bucking the trend if it can survive.

In May LIBN reported that Long Island hotel occupancy fell to nearly 50 percent in the first quarter and rates declined, affected by a slide in business and leisure travel and an increase in new rooms.

Hotel occupancy slipped to 54.3 percent, down from 61.2 percent the prior year, according to Smith Travel Research. Long Island luxury hotel occupancy rates through the end of March fell from 58.5 percent to 52.9 percent with room rates sliding from $165.86 to $153.19.

If the Allegria is successful, Cameron said, look for another more midpriced hotel to check in to the neighborhood soon.